Search - Keith Whitley :: I Wonder Do You Think

One to remember

Allen Stairs | Takoma Park, MD United States | 10/02/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like many seemingly ordinary things done uncommonly well, Keith Whitley's performance on this album may not really catch your attention the first time around. A few licks by guitarist Brent Mason aside, there is nothing flashy here: no vocal pyrothechnics, no power ballads, no exotic melodies or strained similies. But put it on again. Pay attention the way you would if you were in a small club well into an evening when everyone there came just to listen to the singer up there on the stage, no further away than you are from your stereo. The voice is a warm baritone and it rumbles, almost purrs, when it reaches down for the low notes.Above all else, this is an intimate album. There's only one number meant to rock the roadhouse -- "Heartbreak Highway" -- and especially in this setting, it does its job just fine. The rest of it -- even the uptempo numbers like "Turn This Thing Around" -- is clean, understated and emotionally direct. "Direct" doesn't mean "unsubtle." Whitley's phrasing is like a lens that brings emotions into focus. This is particularly true on a slow honky-tonk like "I'm Over You" or the exquisite "Between and Old Memory and Me." Some of the best numbers deal with the perennial country theme of taking refuge in a bottle; "Tennessee Courage" is a particularly good example. On the one hand, this is a part of the genre. But unfortunately, we know that Whitley knew entirely too well what he was talking about. He drank himself to death one night in the spring of 1989, before the final touches were put on the album. If that was the cost of creating this jewel, it was far too high a price to pay. The least we can do is close our eyes and imagine ourselves in that small dark club, lost in his soft Kentucky drawl."

"Country Music"

Shawn Downs | East Dublin Ga. | 10/11/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I recently bought this album,i already had it on tape.If you want a real country singer,who can sing country music the way
it should be sung then,Keith Whitley is your man.He can just reach inside you with his singing and tear your heart out.He lived what he sang,and sang about the life that he lived and that to me is what makes a true country singer.If i cant relate to the music i hear then,i wont buy it.Keith sang about real life,and he didnt try to have a story book ending because,lifes problems dont always end the way we want them to, but you wouldnt know other wise today on country radio everythings a-ok nothing ever goes wrong anymore.Have they forgot the secret formula to having hit songs its simple sing,and write songs people can relate to and they will but it.I can relate to keiths music therefore thats the reason i bought his cd i can relate to the songs he sang.He may be gone but,his music will live on,and on.So if you really want to hear what "country music" is really supposed to sound like then get you some keith whitley and i bet you wont be the same afterwards youll want to hear more!!!!!!!!!!"